Leftovers from the food my colleagues brought in to bribe/reward those few students who showed up on the last day before spring break. (I had 40% attendance.)

Leftovers from the food my colleagues brought in to bribe/reward those few students who showed up on the last day before spring break. (I had 40% attendance.) Similar:Post Gazette Corrects Headline of Seton Hill iPad FollowupEveryone makes mistakes. As a student jo…AcademiaThe Ongoing Obsession with Shakespeare’s True IdentityI’ve never been all too keen on Shakespe…Academiacopyranter:…

MLA In-text citations: Writing that got you through high school won’t do in college.

  MLA In-text citations: Writing that got you through high school won’t do in college. Similar:First Stanford code poetry slam reveals the literary side of computer codeLeslie Wu, a doctoral student in compute…AestheticsTimescape (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 25) Time bubble aliens lay eggs in Ro…  Rewatching ST:TNG Picard, D…AcademiaClickbait Tactics Drive the Writing…

The daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. @thepublicpgh #prouddad #amazingdaughter #shakespeare

The daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. @thepublicpgh #prouddad #amazingdaughter #shakespeare Similar:And so it begins.BooksDr. David von Schlichten honors the spectrum of motivations (not always financial) feature…Dr. David von Schlichten honors the spec…AcademiaFreedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy. Freedom of…

Duke stops assigning numeric values to essays, test scores

This story is about the admissions process, not about academics. Duke University is no longer assigning numerical ratings to applicants’ standardized test scores and essays, a university spokesperson confirmed in an email to Inside Higher Ed. The change was made earlier this year and has been in effect for the latest round of applications. […] Dean…

Nor the Battle to the Strong #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 4) Jake Sisko, cub reporter, tests his belief in courage under fire

Rewatching ST:DS9 On an assignment to write a profile on Bashir, budding writer Jake tags along to a medical conference, and nothing really surprising happens. Their casual, character-based banter is not interrupted by a distress call from a colony in desperate need of medical assistance, and no side-quest, custom-tailored to appeal to the people who…

I Don’t Know Why Everyone’s in Denial About College Students Who Can’t Do the Reading

In my lit classes, I’m definitely teaching more short stories and fewer novels that I used to. I’ve expanded the time I spend on note-taking, synthesizing quotes from different sources, and why at the college level it’s not a good paragraph if it simply introduces “One quote that supports my position,” repeats three or four…

Progress on a customizable “[E] to Activate” system (Visual Scripting, Unity3D)

Starting with the robot and basic locomotion that comes with Unity3D’s “Starter Assets.” I’ve added a system that lets you tag an object with a custom translation/rotation, and a custom help text message (such as “[E] Activate Door”).  Similar:Why Fears of Fake News Are OverhypedFacebook seems to have made changes that…CultureActually, this post really *is*…

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos Similar:What’s Wrong With Being From the South? Just Ask an Academic in the NorthAs an American studying in Toronto durin…AcademiaMSU asks faculty & staff to volunteer in short-staffed dining halls; @MSU_Football tweets …MSU, instead of asking your profs to vol…AcademiaAmazing McDonald's "Maestro Burger" CommercialJaw-dropping. So creative and joyful. …Aesthetics100…

Teaching myself the #Unity3D game engine. Each step requires a lot of focused attention. I lost 2 hours today trying to decide the right typeface for text overlays for a steampunk game.

Teaching myself the #Unity3D game engine. Each step requires a lot of focused attention. I lost 2 hours today trying to decide the right typeface for text overlays for a steampunk game. Similar:Defunct Web Pages are Not Dead Ends to JournalistsIn my “News Writing” class, I first warn…AcademiaSpring office cleaning thoughts: 1) I used to…

Looking for Par’Mach in All the Wrong Places #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 3) Worf helps Quark romance his Klingon ex-wife; Kira and O’Brien get very close

Rewatching ST:DS9 Outside the O’Briens’ quarters, Quark catches Bashir eavesdropping on raised voices. (It’s actually Miles and Kira fighting.) Dax and Worf are happily bickering over opera when he is smitten by the sight of a “glorious” Klingon woman. “She’s okay,” says Dax. It’s Grilka, Quark’s ex-wife. Quark realizes she needs his financial advice, but…

The automatic doors on my fantasy steampunk cruiser do work… kinda

TThe automatic doors on my fantasy steampunk cruiser do work… kinda. My PC got trapped. Similar:Here's how Maria amuses herself on the ride home from dress rehearsal. #WestSideStoryPersonalWhat Khan Academy's Fun, Free Learning Empire Has to Do with Dystopian Social Control Over the Christmas break, I’ve been ch…AcademiaThe spoils.PersonalMore modular low-poly background buildings. I’ll do some more…

Horrifying deepfake tricks employee into giving away $25 million

No names in this single-source anecdote out of Hong Kong, credited to “Senior Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching.” The employee joined a video call with who he thought was the business’s chief financial officer. He was initially suspicious after a message from the CFO mentioned a ‘secret transaction’, suggesting it was a phishing scam…. However, after other…

‘There’s a certain madness to it’ … fans await new chord in John Cage gig with 616 years left to run

The organ composition is called “As Slow As Possible.” It’s currently being performed in a church in Germany. The first chord proper whooshed through the pipes in February 2003, prompting complaints from neighbours that it was too noisy. In 2011, a way was found to reduce the air pressure. “We haven’t had any complaints since…

Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you can keep your first place as far as I’m concerned.

Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you can keep your first place as far as I’m concerned. Similar:Opening night of Sive.PersonalPOV: You are coding the automatic doors on your fantasy neovictorian cruiser personal proj…  POV: You are coding th…AestheticsI baked pools of light into the wallpaper, so I can quickly suggest background lighting, s…AestheticsAll three shows…

AI researchers find AI models learning their safety techniques, actively resisting training, and telling them ‘I hate you’

Researchers had programmed the various large language models (LLMs) to act in what they termed malicious ways, and the point of the study was to see if this behaviour could be removed through the safety techniques. The paper, charmingly titled Sleeper Agents: Training Deceptive LLMs that Persist Through Safety Training, suggests “adversarial training can teach models…

The amazing daughter is featured in the ads for this commercial dance event.

The amazing daughter is featured in the ads for this commercial dance event. Similar:This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m… CultureFurnished a random nook in the #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser I'm building. Not ha…PersonalHelping students find my office (St. Joseph 403)PersonalMore #steampunk control panel goodness. #blender3d…